When a nature or man caused catastrophe hits on your holiday, a privilege you received by being a western, paying so little for what they produce that their houses fly, sink or drift away- do you complain about the exclusive boat-trip being cancelled or hotel being changed, or do you see the real loss that the locals now face ? Do you volunteer to hand out food, build shelter from the rain, reunite lost children with their mothers- or do you complain about the hotel change and then simply fly away.
At least the All Inclusive was still in place, and soon you're back home- telling you friends how the holiday went ok,
you tell them to be careful when booking a trip, it could get cancelled, so do not pay in advance, you could lose your money, and that would be too bad. Then you continue to tell about the drinks by the pool you settled to have.
In the meantime those families are fighting to rebuild their lives, the guide for your cancelled boatrip just lost his wife and child, his house long gone, but he aims to survive.
The news shortly mention- the people in the area where effected, hundreds died, no tourists harmed (so I guess that`s alright ?).
Flight delays, lifting, and all is left behind.
And so, we go on with our lives,
Note; We are privileged to live the life we do, even if a nature catastrophe ruined our long planned honeymoon. We are all together on this earth- and the reaction our dear planet is expressing is one we in the west helped to cause too, it is all a chain, and you know that too. So why do we run away, turn the page when the section gets to horrid- thank our lucky stars or even blame them for choosing to live where they do. Make a donation of 20 euros, next Christmas- that will do.
Then we book our next trip to a far away land- complain about the beach and all it`s trash, all the turtles that are now stuck in the sand, wish we could have picked a spot where it wasn`t this obvious and sad. Shake our head, have a cocktail on the beach, pick a few rocks, and prepare to leave,
Luckily the trash in our holiday photos can be cropped off. And sooner than later- we fly off.
This is not to criticize holiday makers, adventures or even flying, I get it- we all want a dip in the warm in the midst of our winter. We worked hard, we deserve to fur-fill our dream. But if you are lucky enough to go- and there are slumps on the road, remember humanity, empathy, the world does not stop to matter just because of your paid package deal. I wish the will to help came rapidly from somewhere deep within- I wish you could see their lives (locals as well as animals)- not your holiday- caving in.
Maybe to secure humanity- we need to place a law,
Anyone who goes on holiday to a foreign land, must give out a helping hand,
We are all in this together, there is no Us and Them,
One united caring planet, never turning our backs again.
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